He Will Be All Right
by Gallowmere
Summary: Oneshot! Alternative title: Four times Priest Seth was sure the Pharaoh would be all right, and one time he was really wrong about that. Please R & R!


The night the Pharaoh died Priest S had been away on his first diplomatic mission. The kingdom had gotten so used to the peace and stability that his death sent shock waves throughout the kingdom and the news reached Seth in no time. He wrapped up his meeting and headed back as quickly as possible, knowing now was the time to really establish himself as invaluable to the Court. The new Pharaoh was younger than he was, after all, as well as proud and often foolish. He would need someone with a level head to guide him.

Seth had barely brought his horse to the stables when he was called to speak with the new Pharaoh. As he headed through the halls of shell shocked people, he caught sight of Priest Mahad in the courtyard. The priest spotted him and tried to get his attention but Seth ignored him. Mahad was a soft touch at the best of times. Seth didn't need his advice.

He arrived at Atem's quarters to find the new king was not there. Siamun was overseeing the room being emptied out, his eyes noticeably red. Seth could forgive sentiment in the old man, and asked as gently as possible where Atem was.

"In a study near the Pharaoh- the former Pharaoh's room. He asked that the Pharaoh's room have the old furniture removed."

An odd request, but then Prince Atem was full of them. Seth nodded and thanked him anyway. When he arrived at the study the room was quiet, two guards stationed outside looking alert. They stepped aside for him to pass and Seth knocked on the door.

"Pharaoh?" he called, tasting the strangeness of referring to Atem that way on his tongue. "It is I, Priest Seth. You had need of me?"

"Enter," Atem's voice called, sounding subdued. Seth opened the door and quickly headed in and shut it behind him. It was only early evening but there was little light in the room - all the shutters were closed and the curtains pulled so that only a little light remained in the room. The bookshelves were neat as ever, the only sign of life being the desk where Atem's shadowed figure sat.

The Pharaoh rose to greet him and Seth suddenly realised his impropriety: he dropped to one knee before his new monarch and bowed his head. He had not been taught what to say in circumstances like this so he fell back on a simple, "Long live the king."

"Rise, Priest Seth." Atem's voice was tired, a suppressed sadness in it. "I thank you for coming so quickly."

Seth stood and met Atem's eyes. It was hard to tell in the dark but Seth could see the Pharaoh was dressed differently than he had used to as the Prince. And there was the unmistakeable glint of a new crown resting under his hair.

Atem took a step forward, clasping his hands before him. "Allow me to come straight to the point. When the eighty days of mourning have passed, I wish you to serve as my right hand man."

"An excellent choice."

Atem said nothing. He turned from Seth and moved to the balcony, peering through the tiny gap in the curtains. "I will expect your obedience and respect," he said, but there was no conviction in his words. He sounded like he was reciting lines from a play.

"Of course. You have them."

Atem was silent again. He said nothing but even in near darkness Seth could see the tension in his little shoulders. "Is there something else you needed?"

"Tell me what will become of Khemet under my rule."

Seth paused. It didn't sound like a trick question, but... "I do not know," he said honestly. "No one can know exactly how everything will play out."

Atem raised his arm and gripped the curtain in a tight fist.

Seth fidgeted. "But I know what I myself believe."

Atem was silent.

"I believe that it will be all right. That you will be all right." He would have said more, but pep talks that never been his strength. The whole conversation pretty much made his skin crawl. Atem released the curtain, his shoulders dropping. He turned to face Seth, what little light there was in the room falling on determined red eyes.

He nodded, a brief look of gratitude crossing his face, before turning away once more.

The slavers had risen like a bad dream from the desert, kidnapping people from the cities and villages on the far reaches of the kingdom. Seth had never seen Atem so incensed about anything before, and he had to admit he wished it would happen more often. Atem's fury heightened his powers, inspired both awe and fear in his people. Along with their recent discovery that Atem could summon the Three Egyptian Gods, Atem had never had so much respect before. His reputation as something beyond any other ruler that had come before was starting to spread, and if it meant keeping their enemies far from their borders Seth was only too happy to encourage it.

They managed to capture a slaver in a surprise raid on a camp. Seth personally saw to keeping him pinned down while he struggled and cursed against the sand.

"What do you want?" he spat. "I did nothing! You have the wrong man!"

Atem approached the worm, fire in his eyes. The slaver caught sight of him, taking in the crown, the hair. All of the blood drained from his face. "Oh, gods," he whimpered. "Please. Please spare my life. Please! I'll do anything you ask!"

"Tell me where the others are," Atem said calmly. The man hesitated. "Wrong answer," Atem said, power rippling around his body. "Penalty game."

The man's screams echoed long into the night. When it was over and they had the information they needed Atem ordered some of the battalion to take the slaver back to the palace prison. The slaver didn't respond as he was hauled away. His feet dragged against the sand, his body twitched occasionally.

Atem faced the rest of his Court. "This is not done yet," he said, mounting his horse and spurring her to race off. Seth chuckled to himself, about to follow when Mahad caught his arm.

"That was more… merciless than usual," he said in a low voice. "Should we be concerned? Does he seem all right to you?"

Seth shrugged him off, annoyed. "You are far too soft, Mahad," he said, mounting his own steed. "His powers are greater than ever and so is our shadow around the world. The Pharaoh is more than 'all right'."

Seth strode into the Pharaoh's quarters without invitation. He stopped within the antechamber though, not completely forgetting of propriety. "Pharaoh, are you here?"

"At my desk," came the ready answer. Seth walked inside the Pharaoh's little office, finding him sitting before a stack of papers with a peeved look on his face.

"You forgot how to knock again." Then he turned back to his work.

Seth rolled his eyes. "Your Court is wasting my time."

"Oh?"

"Your vizier sent me to check on you," he said and the Pharaoh tensed up. Seth rounded he side of the desk, surreptitiously examining the king. He looked a little flush, but it wasn't noticeable unless one looked for it. "He said you were ill."

"As you can see, I am perfectly well." The Pharaoh repressed a cough, then gestured to the organised chaos of scrolls laid before him, some completed and sealed, others not. "In fact, I am so well I have already completed the day's work. Could you deliver these scrolls to be passed on?"

"So now I am a delivery boy?" Seth grumbled.

"Yes." The Pharaoh returned to his work, propping an elbow on the table and leaning into his hand. Seth paused for a moment longer, examining him again. He had assumed it was just a cold or low fever. But the Pharaoh's focus was slower than usual. He was taking much longer than usual to read something, his eyes tracking across the page and then back to read it again.

This time the Pharaoh noticed his scrutiny and turned in his chair, giving him a hard look. "Was there something else?"

"No. Then I will tell them you are all right?" He hadn't intended it to come out like a question. The Pharaoh scowled, looking suddenly like the teenager he was.

"Of course."

Seth's eyes had been on the sky, trying desperately to spot Bakura's Diabound the next time it came out of hiding. There was suddenly yelling and something raced past him, followed by Shada on horseback. For a moment, Seth was confused. He caught Karim's eye and the other priest looked back at him, equally confused. Then Karim's expression slowly turned to horror as his gaze turned to look behind them. Seth felt his stomach drop, looking in the same direction.

Of course Shada had gone. Because the Pharaoh had gone too.

Seth cursed. He urged his own horse into a gallop, racing through the streets. Those precious seconds had let Shada and the rest of the battalion get a way ahead of them – they were already heading out the back of the city, where Bakura was hiding up on the hill. Seth knew instinctively that the Pharaoh must have been leading them. The little idiot had no weapons to defend himself – what the hell did he expect to do against Bakura?

Seth urged his horse faster. As soon as they knew the Pharaoh was all right, Seth was going to give him an earful. They raced towards the slope and Seth spotted Shada on horseback on the cliff, not moving. There was no sign of the Pharaoh, or Bakura. "Damn it," Seth said. Shada heard them approach, turning to face them. His face was pale.

"Where is he?" Seth demanded. "What happened?"

"He fell," Shada said, "Bakura pushed him and he… fell." Seth looked at the cliff, the vast cavernous drop where Bakura had been.

Seth swallowed. "And the Puzzle?"

"Bakura took it."

Seth swore. "Goddamn it…"

Karim rubbed his temples. "Then the Pharaoh is…"

Seth turned so sharply a muscle in his neck stung. "The Pharaoh is all right."

The other priests looked at him. "But, Priest Seth…" Shada said.

"The Pharaoh is _all right," _he insisted. "He will return. There is no way he would allow the country to fall to Bakura." The others shared a glance, looking doubtful. "He _will. _Shada, take the battalion and search the canyon for the Pharaoh. Have others split off and keep an eye out for Bakura."

"And what will you do?"

"Return to the palace and keep everyone calm. What else? This is just a temporary problem."

Shada and Karim gave him noticeably concerned looks. "Listen, Priest Seth – should we not also consider-"

Seth turned his back on them and rode off. The two of them evidently didn't understand. The Pharaoh was all right. He could just feel it.

Priest Seth struggled to stand, grabbing hold of the wreckage of the palace. He pulled himself up, coughing hard as his chest was struck with pain. Seth forced himself to take deep breaths and try to collect his thoughts. What had happened? The earth shook and Zorc had…

Zorc. Seth straightened up quickly, dizziness overtaking him. but he ignored the dark spots on his vision to look around the space. The air was thick with smoke, small embers blowing on the wind. But the world was quiet. He couldn't hear any of the rumblings of destruction from the land being split. It was over.

"Pharaoh?" he called. Other than Isis, they had lost the entirety of the rest of the Court. "Pharaoh, where are you?"

There was no response. Seth clambered over bits of rubble, looking around for any sign of life. Then something caught his eye. A limp hand poking out over the stones, covered in mud and blood. Seth rushed to clamber over them, coming to stop before the Pharaoh.

He was lying collapsed against the rubble, his arms and legs hanging limply over the rocks. His limbs were covered in strange cuts but instead of blood there was a weird gold colour all over his skin. His head was turned to the side, his eyes closed. His crown had a deep crack down the middle of the eye and there was blood running down one side of his face.

Seth moved to his side, grabbing the Pharaoh's arm, avoiding the weird gold light running down the surface of his skin. He was seeing things. He had to be. "Pharaoh. Pharaoh, wake up." Seth wasn't sure shaking him was a good idea, so he tried to turn the monarch's head to face him. Seth took a sharp breath in as he saw the extent of the damage – a head wound, a _bad _one. But it would be fixable. He tried tapping the Pharaoh on the cheek to wake him and finally the Pharaoh stirred.

He opened his eyes the tiniest fraction, but there was no focus to them.

"Pharaoh," Seth said, risking raising him off the ground the tiniest amount. Atem tensed up but didn't make a sound. "You did it. Zorc is gone. Everything will be fine."

"The spell…"

"Right, you stopped him." Seth could feel the blood at the back of the Pharaoh's head on his hands. The king's hair was matted with it. "There should be a doctor – around here, and then you – you should be fine."

The Pharaoh shut his eyes again, a slow look of pain coming over him. He struggled for a long moment to raise his arm and finally managed to grab hold of his puzzle. He raised it up, up, into Seth's hand. The strange gold light was expanding, starting to eat further into his arms and legs. The Pharaoh's red eyes, normally sharp and focused, were dark and blank. "Break it…"

"What? Break what?"

Atem pushed the Puzzle further into his hands. "Break…"

"You want me to break this…?" He started pushing out the front piece and Atem tensed up further, his face sick with pain. "Pharaoh, listen to me. You will be all right. I will see to it."

The Pharaoh shook his head, not managing to get any words out. He pressed the Puzzle harder into Seth's hands, his hand dropping back to his side. There was gold in his eyes now, too, the dead light dominating the iris.

"If – if I break it, this will fix this, right?" Seth said. "You will be all right once I break this?"

Atem said nothing. He tried to turn his head away, raising his hand again to point out over the wreckage.

"You want to see Egypt…?" he said. Atem didn't give him any further indications so he moved his arms, supporting the Pharaoh so he could look out over the damages to his land. Atem made awful, pained noises Seth had never heard before as he was lifted up, then fell limp again. "The people are safe, Pharaoh. They were evacuated and they're safe out there. They wait for your return."

Atem leant against him. He couldn't see the Pharaoh's face, but the monarch's voice was the smallest Seth had ever heard it when he said, "Break it."

Seth looked down at the Puzzle in his hand. The gold was bloodied and muddy and tarnished but the shine was still visible underneath. Whatever was wrong with it could be fixed. Whatever magic this was could be fixed. "All right. All right. You'll be all right."

He adjusted his grip to the Pharaoh's shoulder so he could take the Puzzle apart more easily and felt something unnerving: the Pharaoh was shaking. Seth fumbled to take the Puzzle apart faster, to grant his king's request. The centre piece slid out surprisingly easy and Atem made an odd, choking noise. Seth put pressure on it and the pieces collapsed inward.

And then Atem's head fell back against him, his eyes shutting. Seth had no time to try and wake him again before the bright gold light spread to consume Atem's entire body, and then in the next second the light became sand that filtered between Seth's fingers to the floor.

Seth gagged, falling back onto the ground. He gasped, his hands shaking and his vision blurring. What the hell? What the hell? He closed his fists around the sand, around nothing, his other hand grabbing at the pieces of the Puzzle.

He started dumbly trying to fit one piece into another, expecting any second for the Pharaoh to reappear. This was all a trick. A game. He never lost. It was the last constant Seth could rely on.

There were voices around him, demanding to know where the Pharaoh was. Seth couldn't answer. He couldn't get distracted. He reached for another Puzzle piece and another hand grabbed it first. He looked up, furious, and met Mana's gaze. She had survived too. He'd forgotten about her.

"Where is he?" she said, keeping the piece from him.

"The Pharaoh is all right."

"Priest Seth-"

"The Pharaoh is ALL RIGHT!" he roared at her, making the small gathering – when had they come? – jump back. He panted, unbalanced by the force of his own anger. "I will make sure of it," he said.

And he meant it. He couldn't solve the Puzzle, but he did find out the abhorrent spell the Pharaoh had cast. What it had done to himself.

And he could keep the pieces together, protected. Set up a way for the Pharaoh to rejoin them in the Afterlife. But given that someone else may well solve the Puzzle before that happened, Seth took one last measure.

A small enchantment on the Puzzle in the event of it being solved. He would rejoin his king. He felt, on some level, like he owed it to Atem. He had duped himself into believing the Pharaoh would be fine, no matter what. Because who else could defeat Atem except himself?

It might have been bitter medicine to take, but Seth would face it. Because only he could change it, put it right. He would battle with Atem again. And he would give Atem the lecture of his life for pulling this stunt.

After all, there was no way he could have seen this coming.

A/N: Atem's death plays out a bit different here than it does in _Prison, _but this is still how I envision their relationship was in the past, so it's not totally separate from that one. Hope you enjoyed! Please R & R!


End file.
